albert hock



UNITED STATES PATENT Gretna,

A. HOOK, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PROCESS FORGILDING OR PLATING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,637, dated March 14, 1854.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT HocK, of Rue de Grenellc', St. Germain, Paris, in the Empire of France, a native of Switzerland, have invented or discovered new and useful 1mprovements in Coating Silk and other Thread or Yarn with Gold, Silver, or other Metal Leaf and I, the said ALBERT HooK, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and the mannor in which the same is to be performed. are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereofthat is to say:

This invention consists of coating silk or other thread or yarn, tapes, or hands with gold, silver, or other metal leaf by first coating a cylinder or roller with the metal leaf intended to be used, and then winding thereon the silk or thread or yarn which is to be coated, after which metal leaf is'to be laid onto the surfaces of the silk thread or yarn which has been wound on the cylinder or roller, when, by pressing the metal leaf with dry cotton, the silk or thread or yarn will be coated with the metal leaf.

Having thus stated the nature of my said invention, I will proceed to describe the manner of performing the same.

I prefer to use a cylinder or roller of wood for the purpose of my invention; but I do not confine myself thereto, as other materials may be used, and such cylinder or roller I make of about three and a half inches diameter, or of such size that the metal leaf used will just wrap round the roller or cylinder, so as to avoid waste of the metal leaf as much as possible, and I make such cylinder or roller of a length depending on the length of 'silk or thread or yarn to be wound thereon and in order that the gold, silver, or other metal leaf may slightly adhere to the surface of the roller during the process of windin g thereon of the silk or thread slight space (according to the thickness of the silk or thread or yarn) between the succeeding coils, in order that the metal leaf laid onto the same may be pressed between the coils,-and thus coat the surfaces. In order that the silk or thread or yarn may be in a proper state to be coated with metal'leaf, the surfaces are caused to be first coated with a suitable adhe- For this purpose the ordisive preparation. nary gilding mixture is preferred. The silk, whether organzine, train, or twist, or the yarn or thread of waste silk or cotton or other fiber, is wound off one reel or swift onto another reel,

and in doing so it is caused to pass into a bath,

of gildin g mixture, so as to become well covered with the same, and in rising out of such bath the silk or thread or yarn is caused to pass and be drawn through a slit made in a piece of cloth, by which the silk or thread or yarn will be wiped and the excess of gilding taking care, as before stated, that the succeedin g coils areasmall distance apart. Metal leaf is now to be laid over the roller or cylinder and over the silk or thread or yarn thereon, and such metal leaf is to be pressed between the coils with cotton. The silk or thread or yarn on the roller or cylinder is then allowed to dry, and when dry it may be wound off onto a reel or roller or bobbins, and in doing so it may be passed in contact and rub against smooth surfaces of steel or other material suitable for burnishing o'r polishing the surfaces. In some cases the metal leaf is in like manner only applied to parts of the silk or thread or yarn, leaving other parts uncoated, and in some cases leaves of different metals are applied at different parts of the same silk or yarns or thread, or different colors of the same metal may be used, by which means very varied and beautiful effects may be produced when weaving or otherwise working up such train, or twist) and thread or yarn (of silkcoated silk or thread or yarn into or on fabrics. waste and thread) or yarn of cotton or other Having thus described the nature of my said fibers or mixtures thereof with gold, silver, or invention and the manner of performing the metal leaf.

same, I would have it understood that what I A. HOOK. claim is- Witnesses:

The process, substantially as herein de-l T.BASSEI, scribed, of coating silk (whether organzine,

W. S. CHASE. 

